


Conversations in the Rain

by SemperAeternumQue



Series: Semp's bad fics about Cherri Cola [4]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Light Angst, also they're bffs, everything is mostly ok now but cherri has had a rough life, in which i use acid rain as a plot device to get characters to talk, no beta we die like the fab four, show pony and party poison make brief appearances, this does stand alone but it makes a lot more sense if you read the rest of the series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SemperAeternumQue/pseuds/SemperAeternumQue
Summary: While stuck at Dr. Death Defying's radio station, Jet Star tries to help Cherri Cola with some poetry and gets a bit more than they asked for.
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Jet Star (Danger Days)
Series: Semp's bad fics about Cherri Cola [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800331
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Conversations in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Woot woot and welcome to the fourth installment of this series, wherein I use acid rain as a plot device to get all the characters in one room, reference the other three fics a lot, and make Cherri Cola sad (again). (Notice how I didn't say last installment? Well, if there's going to be another one or not is for me to know and you to find out >:). I'm very evil.)
> 
> Warnings for this one: lots of references to addiction and drug use as well as character death, grief, and loss. Be careful, y'all.
> 
> Usual clarification on pronouns:  
> My Jet uses he/him and they/them, but I mostly use they/them for them in this. My Cherri uses he/him only, and (although it's not super relevant) Show Pony uses ey/em and Party Poison uses they/them.

Jet Star wandered through the living room of Dr. Death Defying’s radio station, listening to the rain patter on the roof. They and Party Poison had happened to have been out when a bout of acid rain had struck, and you never wanted to be outside in acid rain. Even with the protection of a car roof, it was still preferable to wait out acid rain inside. The radio station was by far the closest shelter, which was how they had ended up stuck here.

So now Party was telling Show Pony the long and convoluted story of how they had gotten back at Fun Ghoul for replacing their coffee with Cherri Cola’s (lukewarm and rather disgusting) tea, complete with animated hand gestures, and Jet Star was wandering aimlessly. While they were looking around for something to do, they spotted Cherri Cola himself, sitting in the corner and scribbling on a scrap of paper. This was no surprise; Cherri spent most of his time hanging around either Dr. D’s radio station or the Four’s diner, and he always seemed to have a piece of scrap paper and pencil on him somehow.

Usually, Jet wouldn’t have bothered him, but they were very bored. Besides, Cola looked mildly distraught, so they probably ought to check on him.

He glanced up as they approached, a bit of his hair falling in his face. “How would you describe the sun?”

“Uh….warm?”

Cherri Cola groaned and let his head fall into his hands. “You’d think someone who’s been writing poetry for years would be able to actually write, but no.”

“I think you can write,” Jet protested.

Cherri sighed. “I know what needs to be said, but I can’t find the right words.”

“What are you trying to write? If you’re okay telling me.”

They watched Cherri twist his hands together for a few moments, eventually huffing a small sigh.

“You know I used to be a wavehead, right?”

Jet nodded. Cola’s past addictions were somewhat of an open secret; technically the Fabulous Four weren’t supposed to know, but Cola was awful at keeping secrets and Show Pony was even worse. It was one of those things they all knew but no one ever brought up, not even Poison.

“I’m trying…” Cherri fiddled with his pencil. “I’m trying to write about war and addiction and sunlight and grief.”

“But you don’t have the right words?”

“But I don’t have the right words.”

Jet thought for a second. “Maybe you could describe it to me out loud and see if that helps?”

“That would be good, actually.” Cola took a deep breath.

“Grief is like…darkness. Like thorns and night and suffocating. Guilt and grief- people say they’re like a hole where someone should be, but I lived that kind of grief long before the kind that drove me to the relief of sunlight. That kind _was_ like a hole, like a missing piece to a puzzle that you couldn’t ignore but could do most of the puzzle without, like an ache that never went away but one you could function with. The second kind, the one tangled with guilt, is like darkness and thorny brambles that pull you in. You can never escape it, it’s everywhere you look and the best thing you can do is get a flashlight and shine some light in your eyes, get the sun or BLI drugs or something that makes it so you can’t see the darkness for a bit, but it’s only ever temporary and nothing can ever pull you out of the pain you’re buried in. And it feels like that and it seems like it’s always going to feel like that because the darkness just keeps dragging you under, no matter how much artificial light you try to bring, and you’re just begging for someone to light you a candle or hand you a flashlight because there has to be some way out-“

He broke off and turned away, refusing to look at Jet.

“Sorry,” He whispered after a moment, sounding very small indeed.

Jet noticed his hands shaking and reached out to still them, managing not to flinch at the scars that covered the poet’s hands. “It’s okay. It really is.”

They made sure to use the gentle voice they used when the other members of their crew were upset. It often helped calm the others down, especially Kobra, and it seemed to work well enough on Cherri Cola too. His hands had stopped shaking quite so much, only their usual faint shake remaining, and his breathing had slowed.

“You’re going to be okay. It’s okay,” Jet promised again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone so far down that path.”

Anything they could have said in response was cut off by a burst of laughter from Show Pony and Party Poison, cackling about….Jet wasn’t sure, but they from what they gathered, some incident involving a particularly prickly cactus, roller skates, and DJ Hot Chimp. It wasn't as if they knew what they would have said anyways.

“How- I mean, is it possible to escape that kind of grief?” They asked instead.

Cherri’s voice had grown calm again, although he was fiddling with his pencil and paper. “It is, but it’s hard. When all the artificial light leaves, when there’s no more escapes, everything presses in on you and the darkness feels so much more endless than before. It takes friends to pull you out of that, it takes other people to reach out a hand or throw you a rope so you can start stumbling out of the dark. But no one can give you light. You have to make that on your own. They can be a light in the distance, but you have to choose to get up and go towards it, you have to start illuminating the darkness yourself or you’ll never really leave.”

Another cackle of laughter came from the other side of the room as Cherri twisted the pencil between his hands. “It never goes away, not entirely. There are always days when the darkness presses in and it feels like you’re caught in the briars again. They get easier, and less common, but they never go away. It never really leaves, you just get better at lighting up the dark.”

“Oh.” It was a bit silly, but it was really all they could think to say. “Did that help with the poetry?”

“It helped a lot, thank you.” He bent over his paper again, scribbling away for a moment before glancing up. “If you want context for everything I just threw at you…”

Jet knew what he meant by trailing off. “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want.”

“I- no, I don’t mind you and the rest of the four knowing some things that others don’t. You already know things you’re not supposed to,” Cola said with a wry smile. “I won’t bother you too much, but I want you- all four of you, really- not to have to learn my lessons the hard way.”

Jet nodded, trying to convey that he could go on.

“The most important thing is always going to be the family you build around you,” Cherri continued. “I wouldn’t have made it so far without D and Pony, or even you and your crew. When you find the people who love you, don’t let them go. Don’t push them away, it only hurts them _and_ you. And…don’t let pain consume you. I lost my sister to BLI and then lost her again, and I let it turn me into a person you wouldn’t have liked to meet. Don’t follow my example, don’t go down that path of rage and self-destruction. You can’t control what happens to you, but you do control how you react. How you deal with what hurts you.”

Jet nodded again, knowing every bit of that wisdom came from years upon years of awful events. “That seems like wise advice.”

“I hope so.” He offered another sad smile. “I like to think I can help younger ‘joys with all the awful things I had to learn.”

“I think you’re doing a good job,” They offered. “You’re very-“

“Hey! Jet!” Poison shouted from across the room, effectively cutting them off. “The rain’s all cleared up, we’ve got t’ get back t’ the diner before th’ others flip their shit!”

Jet sighed. “It was nice to talk to you, Cola.”

Cola smiled kindly. “Go on, Poison is right about Kobra and Ghoul worrying if you’re out for longer than planned. Thank you for letting me talk some things out, it was very helpful.”

They had a feeling it wasn’t necessarily the poetry he was talking about anymore as they waved goodbye and made their way back to Party, who had somehow managed to drape themself over the sofa in an impatient way. And Cola’s words stuck with them long after the Trans Am had pulled away from the radio station with a few shouted goodbyes and the roar of the engine.

**Author's Note:**

> This one was actually jarringly different to write than the other three in the series, mostly because Jet is much more polite than the rest of the fab four and also has their shit together a bit better. I ended up exploring a slightly more fragile side of Cherri, since Jet is such a nice and supportive friend, and found the dynamic much more difficult to get a handle on. I'd really appreciate if you let me know if it ended up alright, either here or on tumblr @always-and-forever-a-killjoy. I hope you enjoyed the fic!


End file.
